Ryoichi Taguchi showed up before the media at his Watanabe Gym on Monday with his WBA light flyweight belt draped over shoulder. He described it as "the only positive thing" that happened in his latest fight, against Carlos Canizales on New Year's Eve.

"I barely managed to keep my belt and that was good," said the 30-year-old, who retained his title for a fifth time in a 2-1 split decision win over Canizales at Ota City General Gymnasium.

Taguchi (25-2-2) and his trainer, Yuta Ishihara, said that Canizales, who had posted a 16-0-0 record with 13 KOs going in the match, unexpectedly utilized a more a technical strategy, which threw the Japanese fighter off his game.